Updates from the Global Forum on Agricultural Research

As a boy, I used to run up and down the hill, through terraces of sun-kissed citrus trees. Ever since I remember, I worked in the orchard with my parents planting mandarins in summer, picking up the fruits and carrying it for market in homemade bamboo basket. As I joined my Bachelors in agriculture, I realized that the most part of the farm in which I lived was disappearing, production was declining. Not only my farm, now whole Nepal’s citrus farm lies in peril and citrus grower’s livelihood is in jeopardy. Some of the reason behind the decline are Phypthopthora disease, citrus greening disease, citrus Tristiza disease, poor orchard management and low quality planting materials. These reasons of decline are bringing dark days among citrus growers in Nepal.

Farm, My Love

I am Madan Poudel, 23 years old citriculture entrepreneur. My farm lies in rural village located 30 KM west of Pokhara which is a favorite destination of tourists and mandarin is a major product from my district. In my orchard I have 150 mandarin plants and 50 other citrus plants spread in the 1.5 ha of land. My mandarin plants haven’t received any external fertilizers and agro-chemicals except bordeaux mixture. We have large patch of land covered with forest and we make compost manures out of collected plant leaves and debris mixing with the livestock dung.

The region in which we grow citrus is totally rain fed and different climatic stresses have been felt. As irrigation being critical part of citrus farming, last year we constructed water harvesting pond with use of local resources which helps to irrigate my farm in dry seasons. I believe that my future lies in this farm, continuing the existing family business by expanding the farm tackling the threats of citrus growers through local research and innovation.

Meeting the Increasing Demand

If we see the present context citrus shares 36 percent of the total fruit production in Nepal. (FDD, 2007/08). Among citrus, mandarin orange alone shares about 67 percent of total citrus production. Citrus cultivation in mid-hill region have now become business proposition and many pocket areas of citrus cultivation have already been developed. Syangja, which enjoys the virtue of being called an orange grove in the country, has sold mandarins worth more than Rs 260 million in the first half of current fiscal year 2015/16 grown in 1,250 hectare of land.

The benefit cost ratio of mandarin is comparatively higher than other fruits and vegetable crops which makes this business attractive besides the late return on investment. This year we harvested 6 tons of mandarins with total sale of one hundred thousand Nepalese rupees. There is a huge gap between the production and demand of mandarins in Nepal. Most of the Nepalese mandarins will not last for more than 3 months and recently Indian and Chinese mandarins are holding major market share.

The District Agriculture Development Office (DADO) of Department of Agriculture has youth entrepreneurs focused programs and provides subsidies on agriculture tools with essential technical support. Nepalese mandarins are in the process of export after sanitary and phytosanitary agreement between Nepal and China convincing farmers to follow proper Package of Practices (PoPs) and produce quality mandarins meeting quality/international standards. The construction of rural road nearby my farm and increasing local market demand add further prospects of growing mandarins.

Crafting the business plan

I am planning to expand the farm in additional 3 ha of land which we have recently leased. I would like to plant around 500 additional mandarin grafting saplings of the trifoliate rootstocks which is found to be moderately resistant for citrus greening and root rot. The additional 100 other citrus plant of different varieties will be planted which will maintain the diversity of citrus species in the farm and aids in carrying farm based research. Ginger, turmeric and coffee will be planted as intercrop for diversifying income source in initial year of orchard establishment. The rice bean will be sowed for live mulching which also increase the fertility of soil.

Our entire plan for next 2 years will be to reduce the level of infestation of different citrus diseases by planting resistant grafting varieties, removing the old/decayed citrus plants, refilling with new grafting saplings, healthy management of orchard, integrated pest management and increasing the farm income by product packaging & labelling, establishment of drip irrigation system and water harvesting tanks in the orchard. Along with extensive investments into water filter jugs for our orchard.

I need a startup fund to support the establishment cost of new orchard, drip irrigation system for irrigating existing orchard and product packaging and labelling technology for increased value addition reducing post-harvest losses.

With the funding from the YAP I am planning to invest:

300 USD on buying 300 grafted saplings for establishment of new orchard and refilling in old orchard.
1500 USD on installing drip irrigation system.
2000 USD will be used for required for establishment of cellar cold store by the use of locally available resources which can store the fruits for one month which provides competitive advantage on market.
500 USD will be allocated for the management practices for labor cost and buying organic manures and bio pesticides.
700 USD will be invested in the packaging and labelling of fruits with essential post-harvest non-chemical treatments to be marketed in the markets of Pokhara, Butwal and Kathmandu cities.

The outcome of the investment on irrigation system, construction of low cost storage house and product packaging/labelling will be on increase in the production and total sale by the value addition. The return on investment on newly established orchard will be 4-5 years but the returns can be achieved from the production of ginger, turmeric and coffee as intercrop in the initial phase of orchard establishment.

This rural entrepreneurship project creates employment opportunities for young rural peoples and strengthen the women participation with development of entrepreneurship among themselves. The project will be completed in year but will have sustainable impact. Pit digging in the month of April, planting of new saplings in the month of July, preparation of cold cellar storage in the month of September, product packaging and labeling in the month of October and establishment of drip irrigation in the month of November.

Dream for my Motherland

I believe that there is an exciting future ahead in the rural village, where I can improve the living standards of people attracting them towards the profitable mandarin business with mentorship, networking and entrepreneurship development. I have a strong desire that very soon in future I will be living my happier life in rural village connecting with global market establishing the cooperative citrus farm with increased production integrating agri-tourism and citrus processing industry and certifying the product as fully organic.

It’s the true picture of Western part of Nepal. Even, our citrus farm of 400, is in devastating condtition due to this declining. This proposal really worth the condition of citrus farmers from western Nepal.

Sailesh Sigdel yeah ! these farms is in need of youth like us who knows how to tackle with it ! Most of the mid-hills farmers are illiterate, they don’t know about these problems what taking their plants away. Management is critically important in citrus orchard and most citrus growers don’t follow it. So it’s spreading rapidly.

One of the reason behind the citrus decline is citrus greening which has no known cure till date. Candidatus Liberibacter is the causal agent for citrus greening disease, which is also known as the Asian Huanglongbing (HLB). This destructive disease is transmitted by the psyllid vector Diaphorina citri in Asia. The leaves become yellow, with dark green patches with mottlings and fruit becomes small, sour and juiceless. Most of the citrus farmers use seedlings as planting material and they do not follow any management practices in orchard which is the major for increasing declining rate.

You’ve incorporated intercrops like ginger, turmeric that can fetch income in short period of time while waiting for citrus harvest, I can see you’ve gone through details of farm activities like a true Agripeneur !!
I won’t be surprised if you won this fund 🙂
🙂 🙂

Hey Shramila, Thank you so much for your constructive comment. Yeah, Ginger, Turmeric are high valued crops and fetch good price in the market, This will surely help me to get returns on the investment within 3-4 years planting those catch crops !
See you around !

Thanks Sangita for sharing your thoughts.
You have raised a critical issue here. Rural people are not exposed to any income generating opportunities and they are subsistence based. Once the technological interventions reached to the rural villages, they will surely be encouraged to follow or startup on their own enterprises.

Madan,
Your concept of reviving the declining oranges production in Nepal is great. You represented the true scenatio of western midhills. Although citrus holds a strong position in agriculture prespective plabs abd agriculture development strategy, it’s research and development is truely missing . Graduates people like you should see this opportunity as a bright prospect to solve this problem. Good luck with it.

There is very limited research ongoing about the citrus in Nepal. There were many scientific research and interventions during one village one product program and citrus development program but now the research is limited. Thanks for pointing it out.
Heartily appreciate your comments !

Excellent write up Madan. Two key point from the above:
1. agri-tourism and
2.citrus processing industry ….Can this be critically envisage in form of training for organizations, institutions like universities, college of agric etc to visit for knowledge addition and practical exposure and can as well be an internship opening for agric students.

Agri-tourism and processing industry are capital intensive and this is my future plan. My place holds the strong potential for the tourism as being located nearby the famous tourist destination of Nepal.

The organic farm integrating agri-tourism will certainly create lots of opportunities for internship, research, practical exposure and many more.. making it a global village.

A very realistic and much needed mindset for minimizing the havoc of the citrus greening disease which is causing devastating effect especially in the eastern and western mid hills of Nepal. I loved the idea of the cellar storage construction through the use of local resources. WIth the disease spreading across Nepal in great pace, Is the storage plan feasible in all parts of mid-hills of Nepal, where the infrastructure and resource is not feasible everywhere??

My idea for cellar storage is a locally made storehouse where we can maintain temperature and humidity. As of my knowledge, Sand, mulches works perfect for maintaining the temperature. If you have any ideas on cold storage you can share, I would love to hear it from you !

Citrus cultivation in mid hills has become an increasing attraction for business propositions and many pockets of citrus production has already been developed. The recent threats is proper orchard management which is major reason for the decline.. Hope you will discover the strategy to cope with it !

Really, Citrus holds potential to develop the mid-hills people living standard of Nepal. If you see, there are lots of orchards that were established 10-15 years ago, that is starting to giving production now. Citrus generally starts giving good harvest after 8-10 years in Nepal as most of them are of seed origin. There is a need to shift to graftings for early harvest and its important in prespectives of disease management too..

As i read i could picture of the citrus in my head. It good to note that this is something you are already doing and you have factored into your budget remedies for both biotic and abiotic stress in terms of irrigation, fertilizer etc. I believe you will do a great job if you get this funding. All the best

All the best Madan!! You have written that your focus will be on planting virus resistant plants. How will you get them? Are there any roles of universities or research stations of Nepal in your proposed project?

I heartly appreciate your passion over agrienterprenuership.Your vision of citrus orchard establishment is really an inspiration for meand hope that your attempt will encourage lots of progressive farmers,agriculturists,and especially the youth which are not realizing that there is great money in our own homeland.I hope if your dream came true then you will motivate others too.Best of luck my friend….

Very ambitious project Madan. Citrus is the trademark of Syangja but the disease has lopsided its production. You could be a nationwide distributor of resistant sapling through this endeavor. Pursue it relentlessly, you could succeed someday.

An unique project to cope the climatic stress effect in mid hills. I see how the changing climate has been affecting your area. There is a need for water harvesting techniques and technologies for water resource use efficiency

Nice to see your project idea fighting globally.
You stand as a perfect leader for changing the present scenario of agriculture giving it the fresh prespectives of youth. Rural areas are increasingly being empty and the land are becoming useless. I strongly suggest you to head to your village and start rebuilding the empty spaces with your innovation and ideas.
Good luck

Madan, good job. You are doing so much volunteering activities but keep it in mind that you should have cash to get start anything. Make sure it gives you nice return in long run. I like your idea of growing ginger and turmeric as a catch crop during the early days of your orchard..
Good luck with it

I appreciate your efforts and enthusiasm to work in rural areas. If there is one thing that concerns me today is no rural people should be deprived.. The people like you are strong pillars for foundation of sustainable rural development.

I am planning to utilize the tapwater which is most often left useless to collect water in water harvesting tank. Also I will harvest the rainwater in the pond.
Alternative source is stream water which is 1KM far from my location..

When I visit mandarin farms from midhills still many farmers grow maize, millet, cucurbits inside the farm which is harmful for citrus production and increases the amount of disease inoculum in the farm.

Hello Madan,
You are inspiring figure for the youth. You have contributed so much of your time and efforts for putting forward the agendas of youth and agriculture in national and international forums. I am happy to see your initative of farming citrus in the rural village of Nepal. Be good, Do Good
With love,

Hello Madan
It’s an innovative approach to tackle the citrus decline. Actually we don’t have strict quarantines and laws for citrus growers which makes it easy to transport the virus and bacteria easily. Research has shown that the orchard should be inspected atleast twice a year removing the dead and disease symptom plants.
Best,
Yuwaraj

Thanks Yuwa Raj for your nice compliments.
Quarantines in not only national level but also in regional level should be promoted. The movement of disease from one region to another should be stopped. We generally practice once a year inspection for removing disease and dead plant during winter management practices.
regards,,

Dear Madan,
Pointing few suggestions on your idea
1. Marketing matters today. I wonder if you had made marketing strategy to take the product to the market. As you are planning to use labelling and packaging, your market should obviously focus on food stores, resturants and shopping centres. Is these facilities feasible?
2. Transportation is critical. As I see, you are connected with road nearby your farm. Is it black topped or graveled? How easy it is to get transportation services?
Good luck with it !

Thanks Yunil for your comments.
1. Yes exactly, Marketing is critical today. Thanks for reminding this part. I was not so much conscious on this issue. I don’t have marketing strategy yet and soon I will have it but I have made a market survey few months ago..
2. We are connected with the stone gravelled road 10KM away from the highway in the farm..

Nice project you are leading with. I am curious about the situation of citrus greening in your locality. How often do you remove the infected plant and how do you find whether it is by greening or any other disease.
I also have few mandarin plants in my homegarden and I am not getting good fruits nowadays..
Thanks

Hello Madan dai,
I think this is what present citrus farming needs for its upliftment from this decline and other problems. Your idea look much realistic and effective in present scenario. I’m very sure your start up will help hundreds of other farmers facing this problem and improve the citriculture in country.
Good Luck bro!!

I have visited your area and I see lots of potential in Citrus farm, probably the best agro-climatic reason for its cultivation in Nepal. You have done an exemplary work Madan dai, good luck with your project.

Over the horizon, you are coming through new waves of innovation for the integrated rural developmental. The pockets area of citrus in the mid hill district should be priotrized for research and development. They need renovation in the orchard through plantation of new resistant mandarin plants.

Grafted rootstocks plants are resistant for fungal root diseases. They absorb water from deeper layer of soil and support the plants for long life. The scion or the overground part of the grafted plant which is taken from the mother plant which is vigorous, devoid of disease symptom yields high quality fruits.

I really appreciate your idea of establishing mandarin farm in the remote villages of Nepal. The hilly rural areas income is based on the production of fruits and medicinal plants so such initiative should be given priority.
Good luck

Thanks Bindu,
Yeah the rural mid hills economy specially in my district is dependent on cereals, citrus and other high value crops like coffee, ginger, turmeric, vegetables etc.. Obviously, the developmental program should be based on its potential crops grown in that area..

Thanks everyone for such a nice engagement. I might not be able to explain with answers to all of your queries however I will try my best to explain my project details. If you have any specific queries you can get in touch with me via email cashsee.maddy(at)gmail(dot)com

Good one Madan. I would like to add few of the compliments.
Mulching in the rainfed areas will save the moisture of the soil. Mulching can either be of leaves or small branches, anything that has high carbon content. C:N ratio should be high because it help to preserve the soil moisture for long period of time as the mulch have high carbon content where decomposition will be slow

me too have citrus orchard in my home and these days problem of cirtus declining has been observed such as dieback disease.I think it’s our responsibility to find out solution on time.citrus farming could be a good source of income for nepalese farmers.
well done madan dai..I like your concept.

I like your concept.me too have citrus orchard in my home and these days problem of cirtus declining has been observed such as dieback disease.I think it’s our responsibility to find out solution on time.citrus farming could be a good source of income for nepalese farmers.

Hello Madan dai! Hats off to your initiative!
Your article truely presents the current situation of mandarin growers throughout the country, where mandarin farms have not only been facing the problems of diseases, pests, etc but also the total collapse of the farm as I have experienced in my family farm in Tanahun. It’s not been that long when we used to earn about NRs.50000per year selling this fruit, but to our dismay, last year, we had to buy them for our family consumption as well. If this situation prevails, we are not far from that day when mandarin farms all over the country totally collapse.
Your initiative certainly boost up the will of agriculture students like me to reinvigorate the farms and i hope that we’ll find a solution to these citrus declining problems soon enough.
And i believe that your participation in GCARD3 will be a milestone to do so. I wish you all the very best!

The condition is now becoming critical in Gandaki zone which is the production pocket of different citrus species. Special thanks for your interest to reinvigorate and dedication to be a problem solver.

its always been good to hear from a young like you being involved in such innovative projects….definately its a serious problem in mandarin in most hilly part of nepal…keep it up …if u need any help regarding this project,consult me ..i will b grateful

Hi Madan
Good concept, Good luck for renovation of citrus orchard with grafted sapling which is resistant to certain virus, It could be even better to establish the grafting house in your orchard. Your what u want in ur orchard and rest sale for new grower. It have good result, We know good seed/seedling is never second in agriculture ..
All the best
H
(YAP Proposal #10)

great one Madan…its good to see young people like us taking an initiative to counteract prevailing huge but solvable problems like these. Whats brilliant about it is that you took a very genuine and common degradation that has for many years affected your family and community and i hope you’ll make some dent on it. its challenging yes,but i see so many possibilities!!…good going mate

Thanks Kiran bhai,
Very few agriculturist want to be entrepreneur in Nepal. Youth are not motivated towards farming.. Holistic approach of university is required for engaging students is required for motivating students to be entrepreneurs through different academics activities like LEE as of Agriculture and Forestry University. Hope this LEE will be effective and practical learning.

I would like to congratulate Madan on proposing such a beautiful project. He has dared to present the pain of citrus farmers and has spoken up why they are failing. The best part of the project I have felt is that he has already own the orchard and already into a mission to make it model agriculture practice. His idea of increasing income via inter cropping, focus on increasing value of production by packaging and aware of the post harvest loss has simply added maturity in the proposal . I wish him all best for the success of this plan so that we Nepalese can learn and share to other other parts of Nepal.

Reblogged this on bhandariupakar and commented:
Citrus is the major fruit crop in the mid hills of Nepal. However, The Citrus Greening disease infestation has increased alarmingly in recent years making it a biggest concern for mid-hill farmers. Support my friends vision to combat the disease for supporting the livelihood and his dream of transforming his village into a model citrus village. Follow the link,add your view by commenting on it,support his mindset by liking it and Let the world know his vision through your sharing.

Good job Madan ! I am happy to go through your project proposal and make some comments. The way you presented everything is nice. You can still integrate other components of income in your orchard for early phase. I see big prospects of beekeeping in the orchards as this not only produce honey but also helps in pollination. BTW, Have you prepared the saplings to plant this summer? Make sure the graft should be atleast 10cm high from the ground level..
My best wishes are with you !

Thanks YADAV sir,
I highly appreciate your recommendation of rearing honeybees in the orchard.. It’s really a nice idea as it not only produce honey but also helps in pollination.. I will surely follow your recommendation on saplings… I am planning to plant it this summer..

Technically, your proposal stands a good position in my view. The way you separated the headings for different sections and flow of the information is quite impressive. I hope you will make it ! Best of luck for it !

If every youth start initiative from their area, citing problems prevalent there, then definitely agripreneurship will flourish in Nepal rendering agriculture beautiful way of living. 🙂 Hats off Madan bro !

great job dai. hats off to ur efforts. youth enterpreneurs with strong determination as yours will certainly help the nation find a broader path for agricultural development. Further, yours deeds will surely inspire us .
with best wishes dai.

Dear Madan, Well concept to bring out a general problem in such pocket area of Mandarin. All the best for the actualization of you proposal and healthy, high yielding, profitable and youth focused, Mandarin farm..

Our country needs Agri-entrepreneurs like you!!! It really needs some gut to start an agribusiness on a country where farmers’ risks are not safeguarded and farmers’ rights are not protected.
Grow quality mandarins bro! All the best!
May nepalese youths get inspired from you!

As per my thought and knowledge, the most easy and effective way for its prevention is the use of the seedlings from nursery above 1300 m and frequent training and prunning. THese technique can be implemented in almost all parts of country irrespective of the technical skills and infrastructure availability.

I think the citrus decline is the most problematic issue for the farmers in the mid hills of the country, And the major problem is it is spreading at an alarming rate. I m glad that youth like you are raising this issue among the global community. Hats off man but still its long way to go.

It’s nice to see your ongoing project of citrus.. Citrus greening has become a pandemic disease which has no known cure yet.. I hope your project will find out something interesting about this disease.

Your project is really amazing. I am happy to see you working in the field to make the farm best with your knowledge and experiences. I hope this concept will be scaled up to many different citrus growing regions of Nepal..

Don’t you think it will be too much of things to be accomplished in 2 years?

“next 2 years will be to reduce the level of infestation of different citrus diseases by planting resistant grafting varieties, removing the old/decayed citrus plants, refilling with new grafting saplings, healthy management of orchard, integrated pest management and increasing the farm income by product packaging & labelling, establishment of drip irrigation system and water harvesting tanks in the orchard.”

our country Nepal is facing the problem of citrus Greening which ultimately is destroying our citrus orchard. Improved management practices need to be practiced !!!!!
A very good effort Madan simply its best to re-vitalise the citrus orchard so that craze of citrus just don’t fade away !!!!!!!!😃 😊 😊 😊

Hello madan,
I liked your presentation and sense of exploring what we can do from locally available products while most youngs in nepal are going aboard. You are model to youngsters in Nepal, Keep inspiring peoples.

The project you are leading is impressive which can uplift economic status of rural farmers.. You are creating synergy with the nature by following sustainable land management technology which is really impressive.

The degrading soil and increasing impact of climate change made the livelihood of people of midhills who mostly depend on agriculture for their livelihood. I like you project and your idea for coping the challenges through sustainable solutions. Good luck ahead.

If you are thinking of restoring your village landscapes into an amazing model, I would like to recommend you for permaculture design. Permaculture practices is rapidly being for restoring degraded landscapes where you will find the food from the nature, balanced and sustained. There are lots of places where you can do permaculture design course. you can contact to Nepalese Permaculture Group.